Where do these stairs go?: illiterate hypoxia

(Annapurna Base camp - 4130m - dawn)

(On the way back down)

(Macchapucchere -my favourite mountain - reflected in an icey pool)

(Annapurna Base Camp at 6am)
(Annapurna I - over 8000 meters)

(Recognise this guy?)

(Macchapucchere at 5am)

(Annapurna South embodied in a pool)

(Rhododendrons on the way to Annapurna)
(The above images are from the second trek - Annapurna Sanctuary - 7 days)

It was impossible to write yesterday. The cumulative exhaustion of two treks - each with their own specific trials and rewards - made its demands quite clear. Sit... no, lie down. Eat steak. Listen to the rain. Was the steak thing a bit crude? I have developed a genuine affection for cows while travelling in India and Nepal. Okay. So we did very little after the bus dropped us off in Pokhara. And now i am still aching - a little bit relief - a little bit with longing. The final sequence of Bladerunner keeps appearing in my mind. Roy's tears in the rain.

Now. What to write? Perhaps it is not yet the right time. I seem to find less and less energy for it these days. Perhaps because i no longer need it like i did earlier on. I cannot deny that i have written most during times of difficulty in my life. The pages of my journal know the loneliness of their recent obsolescence. Or, adopting a more forgiving tone, perhaps, as Hemmingway notes, when we travel we inevitably blunt the tool with which we write. He says a bit more about it, then goes on to state that he believes it best to let that tool go dull, so that when we return to the place of writing we might have something interesting to say. I hope that is what is happening. It would be terrible to know Estragon's melancholy for words.

In this instance, anyway, I guess i'll let the images bear the weight. I am too bloody exhausted anyway. As mountains stake their claim on those who would stare into their gaping jaws, so does writing make its terrible demands upon the author. I shall try to write more later. Please enjoy the pictures. And if you get a chance - check out http://www.soundtransit.nl/ for some of the audio recordings i made along the way. A couple are from the Annapurna Base Camp - an awe inspiring cathedral of natural beauty. I should add, however, that trying to decide which images to upload and which ones to keep on the card was like trying to decide which one of your children you're gonna let have dinner when there are simply too many starving mouths. I feel like the father of 400 unruly, beautiful kids - who wants thousands more.

My love to you all,

Ben

(The following images were recorded during the first trek - the Pilgrim's Trail- 9 days)